Wauwatosa Cemetery
The Wauwatosa Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Wauwatosa. History Beginning Charles Hart, A pioneer settler of Wauwatosa, established its original cemetery with the death of his wife Sarah in 1841. Sarah Hart was buried on a hill overlooking Wauwatosa Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue. In 1846, Hart sold the land that included Sarah's burial site for fifty dollars to the village of Wauwatosa for use as a public cemetery. Before even two decades has passed, the cemetery was considered too small for the growing community. Rev. Enoch Underwood, of the First Baptist Church, donated land to relocate the cemetery in 1866. At that time, many of the graves were transferred north to the present cemetery; some graves, however, were moved to other cemeteries. In 1914, the Original First Baptist Church was relocated to the cemetery for use as a Memorial Chapel. As in other areas of the nation, public parks were uncommon at the turn of the century. For many years, residents used the Wauwatosa Cemetery as a popular green space for picnics and socializing. Memorial Chapel Underwood Family Memorials (Section 7) Northwest Section The Northwest Section of the cemetery contains the graves of Wauwatosa's indigent children and elderly. The Lutheran Kinderheim Society, a home for children, purchased a section of land in the northwest quarter of the cemetery for children's burials. The section has very few headstones and those in place are typically quite simple. The Lutheran Community also established a section for the burial of elderly citizens with little or no money. Numerous residents of the Lutheran Altenheim, a home for the aged, were buried in the Northwest Section. The potter's field and a small number of plots for Civil War veterans are also located here. Many stones are now toppled or have been damaged or removed. Hart Family Memorials (Northwest Section) Grave marker symbolism The tombstones in the Wauwatosa Cemetery have rich symbolism extending beyond the persons whose graves they mark. The symbolism found in the grave markers at the Wauwatosa Cemetery is representative of both regional and national trends. *Angels symbolize spirituality. They guard the tomb and pray for the soul. However, they are also known to guide people go heaven. Saint Matthew, one of the four evangelists, was often represented as a winged man. *Figs, pineapples and other fruits represent prosperity and eternal life. *Flowers represent the frailty of life and severed blossoms symbolize mortality. *Hands symbolize the human bond. They are usually found praying, pointing, clapping or blessing. *A cross represents Christianity. *An urn represents the soul. *A cheap American Legion medal can be found on certain graves of people who were American Legion members, an organization for veterans. *A lamb on a child's grave represents innocence. *A pall or cloth covering on a coffin symbolizes one's mortality. *A shell represents the resurrection and life everlasting. *A tulip symbolizes love and passion. *Tree stump grave markers, which date from 1890 to 1920, symbolize the end of life. Their broken trunks represent a life cut off, while the branches coming from the trunk often show the number of children born to the couple. *A weeping willow tree is nature's lament for lost life. *The wreath symbolizes the victory over death. *A book or bible are often used on the gravestones of ministers or clergymen. However, it is sometimes found on gravestones of very devoted religious people also. Books may also represent a person's good deeds and accomplishments being recorded in the book of life. Points of interest See also: List of burials at Wauwatosa Cemetery North Lefeber Family The Lefeber Brothers opened a dry goods store in Wauwatosa in 1884. The brothers operated their store for 70 years. The second floor of the Lefeber Store was used as Wauwatosa's City Hall and as the offices of the Wauwatosa Cemetery Association for a number of years. Northeast section Brown, Silas M. (D. ) Silas Brown arrived in Wauwatosa in 1837 and established himself as a farmer. During the winter, he traveled the area burning limekilns for the production of lime, necessary to make concrete, mortar and soften water. Brown established the first limekiln in Milestone County soon after his arrival to the area. Schoonmaker Family Although not the original owners of the Schoonmaker Quarry, the Schoonmakers owned and operated it longer than any other family in Wauwatosa history. In 1862, the Schoonmaker Reef, located in the quarry, was recognized as an ancient coral reef, the first to be identified in the United States. The site is designated a National Historic Landmark. Northwest Section Riddle, Thomas M. (D. 1869) Hill, Annis Avery (D. 1886) Clapp, Reverend Luther and Mrs. Harriet (D. 1894, D. 1895) Blodgett, Elisha (D. 1863) Dittmar, John F. (D. 1911) Section 6 Section 7 Moss, John (D. 1916) Section 8 Section 9 Section 10 Section 11 Southeast section Morgan, James (D. 1840) James Morgan (born 1748) is one of thirty-seven veterans of the American Revolution buried in Wisconsin and one of three buried in the Wauwatosa Cemetery. After fighting in the Revolutionary War, Morgan became a spy against the Native Americans for five months in Ohio. Morgan came to Wauwatosa in the 1830s to be with his daughter, Margaret Morgan Underwood, wife of William Underwood and the stepmother of Rev. Enoch Underwood. Southwest section Stickney Brothers (D. 1904, D. 1906) Gilbert, Richard and Nancy (D. 1879, D. 1880) Gridley, Leander Lot and Mary Roberts (D. 1906, D. 1894) Wheeler, Lyman (D. 1887) Warren, Joseph A. (D. 1803) Harwood, Oliver (D. 1867) Hoyt, Emerson D. (D. 1924) Day, Dr. Fisk Holbrook (D. 1903) Ferguson, Theodore J. (D. 1928) Trivia *Headstones do not all face in the same direction. Placement of the headstone depends on the wishes of the deceased or the person making burial arrangements. *In 1915, the Underwood Memorial, the largest granite funerary monument in Wisconsin (to that date), was installed in the Wauwatosa Cemetery. The stone weighed twenty tons, measured by six feet by nine feet with a height of five feet, and required twelve horses, one streetcar, eleven men and six hours to move it into the cemetery. The monument resembles a large boulder. *An Unidentified Civil War soldier, who died in November 1863, is buried in the Northwest Section of the Cemetery. *Babyland Row, in the Northwestern Section, was established in 1939. Young children from families throughout the community were buried together in adjoining plots. *Wauwatosa Cemetery is an example of a Heartland Cemetery. *The current cemetery occupies just over seven acres. See also *Hibbard stone *James Morgan grave *Manegold monument *Memorial Tree Row *Memory Lane *Zemke Lane Category:Locations Category:Cemeteries